Police, Religious Activists Disagree On Satanism Threat

September 17, 1989|By JAMES D. DAVIS, Religion Editor

Police and religious activists differ widely about the prevalence of Satanism. But many caution against downplaying the threat.

``There is a risk of over-frightening the public and causing paranoia,`` concedes Sgt. Carole Raggio, a specialist on satanic and occultic crimes with the Broward Sheriff`s Office. ``But we have to investigate every crime. Anytime it`s minimized, it`s a danger to society.``

Sandy Andron of Miami would agree. Andron is a board member of the Chicago- based Cult Awareness Network, which satanic crime researcher J. Gordon Melton faults as one of the primary alarmists today. Melton says he has seen no evidence that Satanists and satanic crimes have increased in the past 20 years.

``I think if he saw good evidence, he still wouldn`t believe it,`` snaps Andron. ``It`s to his credit that he is trying to avoid a panic. But for him to deny it`s becoming more and more of an issue is to stick his head in the ground.``

The watchdogs are quick to cite horror stories. Anthony Alberti, an undercover agent for the Palm Beach County Sheriff`s Office, says a deputy recently found a cat that had been beheaded, with the left paw cut off and the heart cut out -- a ritual mentioned in satanic books available at area stores. By the time Alberti arrived at the scene, someone had drawn a pentagram around the carcass as well.

Broward County deputies have a thick photo album of graffiti spray-painted on buildings, expressway abutments and other places. One message says ``Satan Rules,`` with the ``S`` in the lightning-bolt style of the heavy metal group KISS. Another says ``Destroy,`` with the ``Y`` resembling the devil`s trident. Still another has a misspelled ``DAETH`` next to an inverted cross.

Police say such activities are typical of youthful dabblers, mostly 15 to 25 years old. Many apparently are swayed by metal musicians such as Motley Crue and Slayer, who adopt satanic styles and lyrics. Some are affected enough to change their lives -- or end them.

Alberti mentions two youths in Lantana who shot themselves in February. Their room had foam plastic tombstones with satanic symbols carved into them. Also found were drawings from heavy metal albums; they had played music by the group Led Zeppelin as they died.

``I don`t call Satanism the cause; it`s more a flavor, an ingredient in the rebellion of many teen-agers,`` says Alberti, who often lectures to church and parents` groups on the subject.

Overshadowing the question of the rockers, however, are continuing rumors of a vast, powerful satanic Mafia committing crimes as well as corrupting youth. Raggio says four criminal informants have told her of a national network that deals in drugs and sacrifices babies.

``They were very adamant and frightened about it,`` she says. ``And they felt there was no place to hide.``

However, Blanche Barton, spokesman for the Church of Satan in San Francisco, points out: ``Look at all the crimes in houses where there are crucifixes, or in hotel rooms where there are Gideon Bibles.``

For the record, Barton says, ``We don`t sacrifice people or animals, and we don`t hurt or molest children. We feel children and animals are the most highly evolved because they`re closest to their natural state.``

Accordingly, not all lawmen blame Satanists for what appear to be satanic crimes. In July, a woman`s corpse was found in the Florida Keys with her heart cut out. The media eagerly reported that Monroe County Sheriff J. Allison DeFoor II would ``not rule out satanic killings.``

News stores connected the murder with another death in the Keys a year ago, in which a pentagram was found near the body. DeFoor reportedly said he was watching ``several`` satanic groups operating throughout the Keys.

In fact, the sheriff is pretty miffed with the coverage. For openers, he says he couldn`t rule out Satanists because clues were too sparse to rule out anyone. But he thinks the murderer is more likely a lone psychopath.

As for the pentagram, it was found 2,000 feet from the body -- a week after the body was found. And while DeFoor`s deputies have heard of satanic groups, and have found candles and pentagrams on several islands, he is not linking the groups with the murders.

In fact, in his 10 years in the Keys -- as a prosecutor, circuit judge, public defender and finally sheriff -- DeFoor says he can`t recall one bona fide satanic crime. He considers the satanic groups ``just a faddish form of mischief`` among the young.

``I agree with Melton 100 percent,`` says DeFoor, who is also a board member of the University of the South, an Episcopalian seminary in Sewanee, Tenn. ``The danger of Satanism is highly overblown.``

However, a danger still exists even if there is no giant conspiracy there, says Craig Hawkins of the cult-watching Christian Research Institute in Irvine, Calif. ``If you just dabble in drugs, you`re a drug user. And you don`t need an incredible knowledge of occultism to be a Satanist. It`s not the No. 1 problem, but it`s still a problem.

``Satanism offers power and security, very important things to young people in a world of AIDS and nuclear weapons. Yes, some people overreact, but it`s just as dangerous to ignore.``